Envoys highlight “problematic” member behaviour at London borough, call for greater buy-in to improvement journey

Responding to the envoys' first report, Local Government Minister Jim McMahon welcomed early progress, but warned that the intervention could be escalated should the London borough fail to properly work with the envoys and improvements are not made.

The Government is testing a new model of intervention at Tower Hamlets, having appointed "envoys" rather than "commissioners".

According to the report, the new approach allows the "council to lead their improvement journey", while envoys "work in partnership with the council to advise, mentor, monitor, challenge and provide assurance to you on their progress".

However, the envoys at Tower Hamlets have complained that they "have not always felt that staff have prioritised making time for meetings" with them, adding that meeting some individuals "has taken longer than it needs to".

Elsewhere, the envoys' report – which was handed to the government in May and made public on Wednesday (9 July) – commended the establishment of a Transformation and Assurance Board (TAB) to support the improvement work, which is populated with independent members.

The TAB is made up of Sir Steve Bullock, who has been appointed as Leadership Lead, Carolyn Downs as Governance Lead, and Jenny Rowlands as Culture and Partnerships Lead.

Membership also includes the chief executive, the envoys, Kate Herbert, the London Government Association's (LGA) Principal Advisor for London, elected members from the two political groups (Aspire and Labour), and a representative of the Ungrouped members.

The report also noted some improvements since a best value report and an LGA report on Tower Hamlets both highlighted negative behaviours in the chambers.

However, some behaviours from all sides of the chamber "continue to be problematic", it added.

The report said: "Poor behaviour in the chamber sometimes goes beyond the usual political theatre, distracts the council from doing its business and limits scrutiny and debate."

"Whilst all sides are saying they are trying to change their ways, this is not yet evidenced in a range of public meetings. It is positive that the Mayor has clearly stated that he recognises these issues and the responsibility of the group leaders to support behaviour improvement."

On officers, the report said the envoys "observed that the effectiveness of officers when engaging with members is variable".

"This effectiveness is dependent on the confidence and experience of council meeting chairs and assigned officers."

The report commended the council's monitoring officer for delivering "a robust and clear" speech at her first full council meeting in May, setting out her expectations of members and making clear her role in maintaining order in the chamber.

It also noted that the chief executive recognises his role in supporting the Monitoring Officer.

Elsewhere, the report warned that "wholesale political and staff buy-in and involvement in the improvement journey is not yet in place".

The envoys said they expect to start seeing the council's Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) discussed at all levels of the organisation to ensure that it is embedded into 'business as usual' work.

The envoys meanwhile said that it is too early to comment on the council's governance processes as more data and evidence is needed.

On the relationship between the statutory officers, the report called for the council to ensure that the golden triangle arrangement is both visible and that it demonstrates evidence to the organisation of its impact on good governance and leadership.

"We will want to see evidence of the group dealing with some of the more challenging issues that arise in the council, and visibly providing robust challenge to the political leadership of the organisation and to one another.

"It will be important to create a culture for all levels of the organisation to feel empowered to challenge," the report added.

Turning to next steps, the envoys said they expect to see significant progress in a range of areas, including carrying out further diagnosis of the organisation's culture and formulating a practical cultural change programme that will have a measurable impact.

The report also called for progress on the governance review to help diagnose and then implement meaningful changes in governance practices, and "meaningful progress" on a recruitment and workforce strategy.

It added that as the programme moves into the next phase, it is essential that the improvement shifts from being owned by a small team of officers to the plans being embedded into normal council practices.

The report said: "We expect to see evidence of political and officer leadership across the council, gripping and driving the change programme, and working proactively with Envoys to seek our support and advice at the outset and throughout delivery.

"We would also expect the Mayor's office to give greater prioritisation to direct engagement with the Envoys."

In a written ministerial statement commenting on the report's findings, Jim McMahon warned that the intervention could be escalated should Tower Hamlets fail to properly interact with ministerial envoys.

The minister said: "While I welcome this early progress at the council, I share the Ministerial Envoys' concerns that wholesale political and staff buy-in and involvement in the council's improvement journey is not yet in place."

He added: "When I met with the council and Ministerial Envoys, I set out that the Ministerial Envoy model is a new approach to statutory intervention which reflects the government's genuine desire to work in partnership with the sector; that the council should treat the Ministerial Envoys as they would Ministers, and though we hope and expect improvements to be made, if this is not secured the option of escalating intervention to Commissioners remained."

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said: "We welcome the acknowledgement from both the Envoys and the Minister about the progress we have made to date.

"We are committed to working together to get increasing support across the council for the improvement process, so we can make lasting and meaningful changes. Although we’ve made good and acknowledged progress so far, there’s still more to do to reach our bigger goals. We will keep working together to remove obstacles and make the most of the Government’s support."

Adam Carey